To Win or Die
by Tempest Two-Step
Summary: -Placed 10 years after the Kira case- Wammy's house is preparing it's new set of children in line to succeede L, and Tare- A quiet yet cunning young man will stop at nothing to gain that title, he will only do anything to win. For to fail, is to die.


**A/N: **So... Yeah. Maybe I'll change it to M? I have no idea... But here it is~ I kinda suck at writing, so sorry ^^; (All OCs belong to me, otherwise I do not own Death Note in any way).

_To Win or Die_

"You have to stop this foolish behavior. Both of you." Roger's cold glare was currently not visible due to the glare of his glasses, but it was apparent that it was there and was beating into the two dark-haired boys seated before him. Even if he was beginning to grow old, it still didn't stop his glare from seemingly piercing the very fabric of their souls.

"Calm down Roger," the taller and paler one sighed nonchalantly in attempt to brush the coldness of the glare off. The taller one had natural black hair that looked as if he had just climbed out of bed, while the shorter one adorned darker hair which shielded his soft brown eyes.

Roger did not look pleased. In fact, quite the opposite and the frown present on his face deepened and he pinched the bridge of his nose out of frustration.

"Jacek, I am not pleased," Roger grumbled as a smirk grew present on the taller one's face, apparently aliased as 'Jacek'.

"It was Bind's fault anyways, you know," said a matter-of-factly while eyeing the shorter boy with his deep blue eyes, and found that he was actually listening intently.

"J..." Roger sighed in frustration as he set his forehead in his head. "Just... Go, please. I don't have the proper amount of aspirin to deal with you right now."

"Thanks a bunch, Rog," Jacek said as he jumped to his feet and spun on his heels, heading towards the doorway of the enormous office. But before he did, he grabbed the silent boy's shoulder who was sitting next to him and whispered into his ear, "Don't let him crack you, T.", and then continued on without another word.

It was silent in the room up until J's footsteps were completed faded, but only then did Roger begin to speak directly towards the one called T.

"Tare, now tell me," Roger ordered, his face blank. "I know that you have a good morality in comparison to J, so please do tell me what had happened exactly."

Tare sunk into his seat and began pulling the zipper up and down on his dark green military jacket repeatedly, but not uttering a word.

Roger waited patiently for T's response, only to find that it'd never come after about half an hour of staring at him and him staring back.

"You can go." Roger exasperated while rubbing his temples and using his hand to shoo him towards the door.

Tare nodded and got up not a second later, heading towards the door. As he set his hand on the doorknob, he had heard Roger state coldly, "Keep Jacek out of trouble you understand?"

The boy turned his head towards him slowly and nodded, his dark eyes unblinking before continuing out.

The instant the door shut, Tare was nearly tackled to the ground by J who was standing next to the door. Jacek set his hands on T's shoulders and stared him straight in the eyes.

"I listened the whole time, but it was silent," J explained, his gaze unfading. "Just tell me that you didn't rat me out, eh?"

"No," T simply stated. "I didn't say a word."

"I LOVE YOUR BRAIN!" Jacek squealed as a smile lit up on his face and he let go of him. "You really had me worried there for a second, you know. But come on, Rog might here us, this way, the others must be waiting for us."

_Jacek. Name: Jack Kess. Age: Seventeen. Controlling cocky bastard. An easy win, all-around, but good ally. Will be eliminated eventually. _T noted to himself like he did every day when he saw him, his brow furrowing and his eyes analyzing him and his mannerisms as J grabbed his arm and began pulling him down a window-filled corridor.

They past several series of doors, and a few children-filled rooms until Jacek had eventually stopped in what looked to be a courtyard or playground of some sort. Children were playing everywhere you could look, and dark shady figures stood off into the shadows, watching them and taking note, but that wasn't an unusual thing.

"They've got to be here somewhere…" J muttered as he looked over the crowd.

"They're right there," T said near effortlessly, pointing towards a large tree in the center of the courtyard where several young children, as well as three girls and a boy, all looking about in their either mid or early teens.

"Your badass mind prevails again," Jacek smirked while messing his hair up in the process. J then continued to run ahead and greet them, the ginger-haired girl in particular.

Tare stood there for a few moments and waited for J to push through the crowd of children before beginning to walk himself, his beat-up sneakers brushing against the newly paved concrete silently as he did so.

It didn't take long for him to feel as though he bumped into something about half-way there, and looked down, only to find a small boy with a mess of platinum blonde, near white hair tugging at his torn blue jeans. The sun was bright, so the young boy's eyes were squinted, but it didn't stop him from speaking.

"Tare, onii-chan is being a meany face, will you be my onii-chan?" the boy whimpered as his lips trembled and his bright green eyes began to water.

_Onii-chan? Oh, that's right. Cloud. Name: Capitol Leonard. Age: 4. Of Japanese descent. Intellectual than most. Has been known to remind Roger on occasion of Near based solely on appearance. Must be eliminated before reaching adolescence. Refers to Raph as onii-chan, or, in the English translation, big brother, even though not in actual relation._

T's brown eyes narrowed for a moment as he studied him, but quickly softened before lowering himself onto his knees so as to be closer to Cloud's height.

"Raph?" Tare asked with sympathy sincere in his voice. _Raph. Name: Rake Parsian. Age: Sixteen. Inconsiderate douche bag. Intelligent. Must be eliminated as soon as possible and at all costs._ The small boy nodded and wiped his green eyes and began sniffling.

"Come on…" T said with a warm smile while picking him up and setting the small child onto his shoulders. "I'll be your onii-chan." Cloud cheered happily and clung to his head before lower himself into Tare's arms.

T then continued towards the group of people his age who were all still around the large tree as Cloud began to slowly fall asleep in his arms, the small child's arms slung around Tare's neck.

They reached the group in no-time with T trying his best to not trip over any children, but found that he could do it with ease while keeping the small child in his arms asleep.

"Took you long enough!" J laughed as he wrapped an arm around the ginger-haired girl T had seen earlier. Tare's eyes instantly darted towards her and began analyzing.

_Mandy. Name: Mortar Days. Age: Fourteen. In an intimate relationship with Jacek. A bit of a hot-head, yet must be eliminated at all costs, even before Raph. Loyal friend. Kind of a bitch at times. Acts in the moment and according to emotions. Very intellectual, near surpassing mine if not matched._

"Not my fault," T replied as he smiled and shifted his eyes towards the sleeping boy in his arms.

"Cloud?" a girl with straight light-brown hair asked curiously with a smile. She had beautiful deep brown eyes, and was moderately skinny and of average height with pale-ish-olive colored skin. Her hair flowed down past her shoulders, and she had a smile that could light up a cave. You may be wondering… Why am I putting so much emphasis into her appearance? Well, you'll see for yourselves.

_Her… Half. Name: Helen Heartstring. Age: Fourteen. _T could feel himself swallow hard as he held the boy tighter to him. His eyes were fixed on Half, still analyzing her like he had done every day. _Smart. Wise. Beautiful… Love. Sadly… _He attempted a smile and nodded. _Must be eliminated._

"Yeah," he said not a moment later. "Raph was being an asshole to him."

"Isn't he always?" Half sighed but walked towards him and touched the sleeping boy's face softly.

"True that," a boy with curly brown hair commented as he leaned against the bench where several small children and an older girl with reddish-blonde hair were sitting.

_Bind. Name: Benjamin Barrowind. Age: Fourteen. Loyal to friends. Constantly lives in the shadow of the former B who had become a serial killer, Beyond Birthday, or BB. Is hated by Jacek. Cunning, yet drama-seeking. Hate him yet he is still ignorant of that._

"I guess," T said, sounding awkward as Half placed her hands under Cloud and took him from his arms swiftly while brushing her cheek brushed against Tare's cheek.

T's cheeks instantly lit up red as his eyes widened, but he quickly retracted such emotions and merely coughed into his arm as if nothing had happened.

"Hey Tare, Mandy and I will catch up later, but the babe's hungry so, you know, gotta go get some food before the next lessons start," J said while scowling towards Bind with pure malice. "Plus, Bind over there is kind of making me sick."

Bind merely rolled his dark blue eyes, but T nodded in understanding, snapping himself out of his slight daze.

_I must get rid of such petty emotions._

"See you lot later," Mandy stated, a clear English accent heavy in her voice along with a devious smile, meeting each of them in the eye. J then kissed her cheek passionately and they continued to turn back towards the building and through the crowd of children, Jacek's arm around her.

"Maybe we should take a detour to the bedroom, eh?…" Tare overheard Jacek whisper into Mandy's ear as they left.

"Bye guys," Half called out gently as she cradled the sleeping Cloud in her arms. Tare merely watched Half as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I really hate them…" Came a voice from the bench. T turned towards it, and found the girl who was still sitting on the bench stroking a child's head gently.

"You do?" Tare didn't even need to ask, he already knew.

_Nyxella. Name: Night Cast. Age: Thirteen. Somewhat melodramatic. Resourceful. Sensitive. Easily angered and upset. Friend of Half's._

"It's just a generic thing… No real reason," Nyxella murmured under her breath, turning her head away from him as Half came to sit next to her, but T knew that it was more than that, not that he'd say anything nor really cared.

Tare simply nodded and averted his eyes away from her and towards Half and Cloud with T's arms still crossed.

_Near._

_L._

_Kira._

_Shinigami._

_Near._

_L._

_Kira._

_Shinigami._

_Near._

_L…_

…

The words repeated within T's head like a never ending cycle as he continued to watch Half and Cloud.

"You alright, mate?" Bind set a hand on Tare's shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts quickly. T didn't even flinch, and simply turned his head towards B who was smiling brightly at him.

_That smile…_

"I'm fine," Tare stated blankly without a second's notice.

_I hate it._


End file.
